This incredibly easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork recipe is made with pork butt (a.k.a. Boston butt). My method uses no liquid or searing—just a pork butt and a simple BBQ dry rub—add some liquid smoke if you want. A few minutes of prep time, then cook low and slow in your slow cooker for wonderfully moist and tender pulled pork.
🐖Ingredients
Pork butt—raka Boston butt
Liquid smoke—optional but suggested
BBQ dry rub—your own OR mine: brown sugar, kosher salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐖Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Cook Crock Pot Pulled Pork from Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt)—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 👍Make it right every time
- 📋Related recipes you will love
- 🍽️Serving Pulled Pork
- ❓What BBQ sauce is best for pulled pork?
- ❄️How to store pulled pork.
- ♨️How to reheat pulled pork
- ❓FAQs
- 🐖What are Boston butt, pork butt, and pork shoulder
- 📖 Recipe
- Crock Pot Pulled Pork
Featured Comment by LK:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This is the best recipe I have ever used for pork in the crock-pot and I have tried many through the years adding liquids of all sorts. Using dry rub seasoning and the aluminum foil balls cooked the pork perfectly."
The best-pulled pork is made from a pork butt cooked low and slow to melt all the delicious connective tissue for a moist and tender result. Use it for BBQ sandwiches, sliders, or great Mexican tacos, burritos, and nachos.
I like to cook pork butt in dryer heat like grills, ovens, or smokers. Not braised in cola, broth, or other liquids. It is not cooked in the drained liquid fat, so my foil balls will elevate the pork roast.
Perfect for game-day parties and family gatherings. Or cook a smaller pork butt and freeze some for later.
👨🍳How to Cook Crock Pot Pulled Pork from Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt)—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Prepare a large crock pot with six aluminum foil balls to keep the pork from draining.
2. Use the dry rub of your choice or make the suggested rub.
3. Pat dry the pork butt and then coat it with about 2 tablespoons of good-quality liquid smoke.
4. Generously apply the BBQ dry rub.
5. Place on the foil balls and cook covered on low undisturbed for 8-10 hours.
6. Cook until internal temp of 195° minimum—but 200°-205° is preferred—usually 8 to 10 hours.
7. Wrap tight with aluminum foil, then wrap with several towels. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes, but 2-3 hours is fine if wrapped well. Shred with forks. It will fall apart.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
👍Make it right every time
Use a 3-4 pound pork butt, with or without bone. Bone-in may take a bit longer to cook.
Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours until you reach 195°+ (200°-205° preferred). 190° is the absolute minimum, but it will not be as good. You can also cook on high, decreasing the cooking time.
Elevate to pork butt out of the drainage with a small rack or crumpled aluminum foil. The fat pad may go up or down; it does not matter.
You will get 3-4 servings per pound. Large butts will take longer to cook, but it will work if it fits without touching the sides.
Optionally, wet the pork with liquid smoke or mustard and then apply a pork rub of your choice—a suggested rub is in the recipe card if you don't have one.
Wrap tightly in heavy foil for 15 minutes or more before shredding. The pork will stay hot for 2 to 3 hours if well-wrapped, which will help in timing.
📋Related recipes you will love
Oven Baked Pulled Pork Butt
Oven Pulled Pork from pork butt is cooked in the oven low and slow. Our best-pulled pork recipe is tender and moist with delicious bark. Super easy, with almost no work—you rub, bake at 250° for 8 to 9 hours, shred, and eat.
Smoked Pulled Pork on a Gas Grill
Cooking smoked pulled pork butt low and slow on your backyard gas grill is easier than you think. With just a pork butt roast (AKA Boston butt), a dry rub, and wood chips, you can make juicy BBQ pulled pork with fantastic crusty bark and smoky flavor.
Check out other pork butt recipes, like Oven Baked Pork Carnitas and Crock Pot Carnitas. Also, check out my other dry rubs like Chipotle BBQ Dry Rub, Memphis Dry Rub Recipe, and BBQ Dry Rub for Ribs, Pork, Beef, and More.
See the Pulled Pork Recipe Roundup for recipes using pork tenderloin and loin for shredded pulled pork.
🍽️Serving Pulled Pork
The most common serving method is pulled pork sandwiches with buns or slices of bread but a pile of pork with some sauce on a plate if you want to skip the bread. Other options are casseroles, pork tacos, or pork enchiladas. But serve your pulled pork any way you want.
Side dishes: The usual coleslaw, potato chips, and potato salad are the standards. Hot sides like potato casseroles, convection oven French fries, stovetop mac & cheese, and baked beans are favorites.
❓What BBQ sauce is best for pulled pork?
Barbecue sauce is a lot about personal taste. A sweeter BBQ sauce like Kansas City or Memphis sauce is excellent. There are also Carolina vinegar-based sauces and many Texas and other BBQ sauces. Use your favorite.
Try my homemade Memphis Barbecue Sauce. This sauce always disappears first at parties, and others are left untouched. I commonly use Gate's Kansas City sauce and Cooks Illustrated like Bull's-eye Original or Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce.
One quick reminder: do not reheat pork butt in BBQ sauce. The acid in it will destroy the texture of the pulled pork. Always add any sauce at the time of serving.
❄️How to store pulled pork.
Pulled pork is good refrigerated for 3-4 days, but two days is preferred since the texture suffers.
Leftovers can be sealed airtight in the freezer and frozen for 4 months. Many people freeze the pork in reheatable sealed bags and then reheat those in boiling water.
♨️How to reheat pulled pork
Reheat pulled pork on a sheet pan in an oven. Sprinkle with water, apple juice, or chicken broth (don’t overdo it). Cover tightly with foil and put it into the oven at 250° to 300° until hot. The time varies by how you shredded it and the amount on the tray—usually about 45 minutes in the oven.
You can then turn the oven down (keep it covered) or transfer it to a crock pot on low to keep warm. I know that is not very exact, but you get the idea.
Never reheat pulled pork in or with sauce applied—the acid in the sauce will destroy the texture.
❓FAQs
No, but good-quality liquid smoke enhances the results. You could also coat it with mustard if you want. Or use the dry rub alone.
If you use liquid smoke, please only use one with water and smoke listed as ingredients and nothing else. Cheap liquid will ruin this. I use Wright's.
No liquid is needed to cook pulled pork in the slow cooker. Liquid will change the texture of the "bark" you get with the dry rub.
There must be some time for the fluid and melted connective tissue to reabsorb into the meat cells.
Wrap with foil and a couple of towels, then let the fluid absorb for at least 15 minutes, but 1 to 2 hours is better.
To help timing, you can delay shedding time by up to 3 hours by wrapping the foil-sealed butt in multiple towels and a small cooler.
It's not a good idea—it will not shred well. It is better to shred correctly while hot.
Some crock pots won't do it. Do not try to shred pork butt that did not reach at least 190° because the connective tissue is not fully melted and will not be good. Get to 195°, but 200° to 205° is better.
You can move the pork butt to a 250°-300° oven on a tray and finish cooking uncovered in the oven if your crock pot can not get to the suggested internal temperature.
🐖What are Boston butt, pork butt, and pork shoulder
Pork butt and Boston butt are the same thing and are the best cut of pork to make great pulled pork due to the fat, marbling, and connective tissue content. The clear plate (a thin muscle above the butt) is occasionally included with the pork butt and is prized for its moisture and tenderness.
Boston butt and pork shoulder are not the same things, although many people use the terms interchangeably. To add to the confusion, the name "pork shoulder" also refers to a primal cut with two major subprimal parts, the Boston butt and the picnic shoulder (AKA pork shoulder.)
The pork butt is above the picnic shoulder in the pork shoulder primal cut. While the whole primal cut is well-marbled and tough meat, the butt area has more connective tissue to melt and is the cut of choice for pulled pork and carnitas.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Pulled Pork
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Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds Pork Butt, aka Boston Butt - boneless or bone-in
- 2 tablespoons liquid smoke - good quality
- 1 cup BBQ dry rub
My BBQ dry rub if you don't have one
- ½ cup dark brown sugar - light will do
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt - I tend to decrease this some
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Start with a 3-4 pounds boneless or bone-in pork butt.
- Prep a large crock pot with six balls of aluminum foil. Make about 2-inch balls of foil, then squish to 1 inch high and arrange in the bottom of the crock pot.
- You can use the dry rub of your choice or make the suggested rub: ½ cup dark brown sugar, 3 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Stir together in a small bowl.
- Optional but recommended—pat dry the pork butt and then coat with about 2 tablespoons of good-quality liquid smoke.
- Generously apply the rub. At this point, you could wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight or cook it right away.
- Place on the foil balls and cook on low undisturbed for 8-10 hours.
- Bake until the internal temperature is 195° (190 ° at a minimum)—about 8-10 hours, but this will vary slightly with the thickness of the meat and the crock pot. If you can reach 200°-205°, the results will be better. Remove the meat from the crock pot onto a large sheet of heavy-duty foil.
- Wrap tight with aluminum foil, then wrap with several towels. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes, but 2-3 hours is fine if wrapped well. Shred with forks. It will fall apart.
- Serve as pulled pork sandwiches or any way you wish, like tacos or nachos.
Recipe Notes
Pro Notes:
- This is an all-day recipe.
- This is for about a 3-4 pound pork butt, but if it fits in the crock pot without touching the sides, it will work. But the time will be much longer.
- Bone-in or boneless does not matter. And fat pad up or down does not matter.
- I suggest a good-quality liquid smoke, but you can skip it if you prefer. You can also use mustard.
- Use a rub of your choice. I provided a suggested rub. You may decrease the salt if you want.
- Done is really 200°-205°, but some crock pots just can't reach that temperature. Don't settle for under 190°; try for at least 195°, but higher is better.
- If your crock pot does not reach the correct temperature, move it to a 250° oven on a tray with sides to finish.
- Do not shred immediately. Wrap with foil and let the fluid absorb for at least 15 minutes, but 1-2 hours is better.
- You can delay shedding time by 2-3 hours by wrapping the foil-sealed butt in multiple towels and a small cooler if you have one.
- It would be good if refrigerated for up to 4 days, but I would prefer 2 days since the texture seems to suffer. It will freeze well for 4 months.
- Reheating instructions are in the recipe post above.
- Never reheat with sauce applied; the acid will destroy the texture.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published April 9, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Gloria says
Hi! I want to make this but have never used liquid smoke. I went through the comments hoping someone asked but couldn't find it. Can you suggest a good quality liquid smoke? Thank you!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Gloria,
Welcome to the blog. I do have it addressed in the FAQ section in the post. Tou can skip if you want. I only use Wright's brand. You will find it in the isle with BBQ sauce etc. If they don't have that, look at the ingredients, there should only be two, water and smoke.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Sean J Sellards says
A pork butt and a Boston butt or pork shoulder are not the same thing and shouldn't be cooked the same way. A pork but is a cut from a lower part of the animal, and has a lower fat content and usually has a bone in it. It should not be cooked low and slow, it will be dry as hell. A pork shoulder or Boston butt is a higher cut and has more fat content and is much better for pulled pork.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sean,
Welcome to the blog but you seem to have some confusion about cuts of pork. I do have it correct in the post. I have removed your poor rating and will remove your comment in a day or two so others don't get confused.
Dan
DIANE S DEAS says
I don't get all the rave reviews. I made this exactly as written, and although the meat was cooked to perfection, (3 hours early), I found it flavorless. I've always done crock pot pulled pork with liquids (ie apple cider vinegar, chicken broth), along with other ingredients, and I find that to be more impressive.
Julie Gramoll says
Can't wait to try this for Memorial Day weekend! My one question, I usually pour the bbq sauce over the shredded meat inside my slow cooker. How would I reheat then if I shouldn't reheat with the sauce on the pork? Do you just pour the bbq sauce on some of the pork at a time?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Julie,
Welcome to the blog.
Pulled pork butt will get "mussy" if reheated with BBQ sauce which is acidic. Meats like brisket and shredded pork loin tend to hold up better to the acid. So most experts will only use sauce at serving pulled pork butt—I agree. I switched about 15 yrs ago and will never go back, the texture is much better.
Dan